Just fininshed Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge; a spectacular cross genre novel, sci-fi and mystery. As I was reading it, and there are hints of this in Vinge’s other books, I was astounded to see that he is remarkably similar in style and scope to Isaac Asimov. Where Fire Upon the Deep and Deepness in the Sky were both epic and wide ranging (similar to the Foundation Series of Asimov) Marooned in Realtime is far more like The Robots of Dawn; smaller in scope and focused on a far more precise set of issues.
As with the other Vinge novels (and I’m aware this is a bit of a one dimensional comment) I’m continually amazed that his titles, which on first reading seem somewhat nonsensical or absurd, fit the novel so well once the book gets going. In Marooned in Realtime we find the last of humanity stranded in the future. All of these survivors gave up or were shanghaied from their past lives to live life in the future via the use of bobbles, sort of a human safe deposit box or time capsule. These folks all thought that the future would hold more for them, but awakened to find a desolate, empty planet. The title comes from the murder mystery that takes place in this desolate future setting. The protagonist, Wil, is asked to figure out who left one of the more prominent members outside the time capsule to die of old age and exposure. Thus, she was marooned in real time while the rest of the characters slept the millennia away in their safe deposit boxes.
Overall I liked it. Not quite as well fleshed out or grand as his other works, but a very engrossing story. He wraps several mysteries into this book to keep the reader’s interest. First, who killed Marta and why. Second, what happened to Humanity. Third, who was it who shanghaied the protagonist and sent him to the future against his will, and why. Fourth, will the new settlement of humanity be enough to repopulate the Earth. It is a good lesson on providing a multitude of mysteries for the reader to chew on rather than just the one central mystery.
One passage caught my eye for the way the protagonist sums up his nature:
"Wil lumbered into the bathroom, washed away the strange wetness he found around his eyes. All through his career, he'd done his best to project an appearance of calm strength. It hadn't been hard: He was built like a tank, and he was naturally a low-blood-pressure type. There were a few cases that had made him nervous, but that had been reasonable, since bullets were flying. In police work, he'd seen a fair number of people crack up."
And this one, about understanding innovation:
It read as he imagined Benjamin Franklin's analysis of a jet aircraft might read. Yelen could study the equipment, but without Tunc's explanations its purpose would have been a mystery. And even knowing the purpose and the underlying principles of operation, she couldn't see how such devices could be built or why they worked."
Like most Sci-Fi stories I was lost for the first chapter or two. I’ve always hated when authors thrust the reader into the middle of the action (in media res). I’ve always thought a bit more exposition and description is necessary. The end too was a bit choppy, but the easy to foresee revenge was quite fun to read. All in all as good as his others but in different ways.
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